Rookie of the First Half

There’s been no shortage of rookies getting playing time this season. Defensive linemen Myron Pryor and Ron Brace were part of the rotation in the season opener. Darius Butler and Pat Chung had small roles early, but are getting more and more time. And when LT Matt Light went down, Sebastian Vollmer stepped right in without the offense losing a beat.

Butler, Chung, and Vollmer deserve praise for their play thus far, but out of the spotlight, long snapper Jake Ingram has been flawless. He would get my vote for rookie of the first half.

I know there are some people thinking it’s throwing away a vote, like supporting the Green Party. But I have my reason.

No one thought Ingram had a chance because the Pats signed free agent Nathan Hodel from Arizona to replace Lonnie Paxton. But the rookie pulled off the upset and edged the veteran.

Ingram had big shoes to fill. Paxton had five minutes of fame for his snow angel after the game-winning field goal in the 2001 AFC Divisional game. But the bottom line was he was an accurate snapper that didn’t make errant snaps. Paxton spent nine years with the Patriots and only missed three regular season games. That’s a lot of snaps.

Which takes me to Ingram. New England attempted 16 field goals, punted 24 times, and kicked 23 extra points. Every snap has been on the money. And Ingram must block immediately after every snap.

If you think I’m exaggerating Ingram’s importance, here are two things to think about: New England beat the Buffalo Bills in the season opener by one point and Stephen Gostkowski’s fourth quarter field goal put Baltimore down by six, forcing the Ravens to go for a game-winning touchdown instead of a game-tying field goal.

It’s a thankless job, but it’s vital to a team’s success. Like an O-lineman, the snapper only gets noticed when things go bad. Ingram has remained invisible this year, so he’s doing his job well. As long as his name isn’t called during games, he deserves a moment to hear his name off the field.